Have a friend looking to get a new scanner. Looking to monitor Fairview Park, North Olmsted areas. Have any Fire or Police agencies in that area gone digital? What would be the best hand held for him? I'm thinking along the lines of a PRO-164...

Just so you know, that system is a multicast system and even though the pro-106 is capable of receiving it you may have problems with multi-path depending on your physical location. Multi-path can cause the audio to breakup horribly. I live in the SW suburbs and had a pro-106 that was useless to me because of the audio breakup. I purchased the new Uniden BCD536HP which improved my reception a great deal but in order to get it to receive reliably I had to install a Yagi antenna with a very narrow focus and a lot of trial and error in aiming it. There is no way I can use a portable because moving it a few feet one direction can cause total audio loss. If you live outside the Cleveland area, such as Brunswick you may not have any problems.

Just so you know, that system is a multicast system and even though the pro-106 is capable of receiving it you may have problems with multi-path depending on your physical location. Multi-path can cause the audio to breakup horribly. I live in the SW suburbs and had a pro-106 that was useless to me because of the audio breakup. I purchased the new Uniden BCD536HP which improved my reception a great deal but in order to get it to receive reliably I had to install a Yagi antenna with a very narrow focus and a lot of trial and error in aiming it. There is no way I can use a portable because moving it a few feet one direction can cause total audio loss. If you live outside the Cleveland area, such as Brunswick you may not have any problems.

Slight correction on your terminology. It's not multicast (several towers broadcasting traffic on different frequencies), but rather simulcast (multiple towers broadcasting traffic simultaneously on the same frequencies).

The simulcast issue is well known. You won't have the same problem with multicast sites like Brunswick or Medina, but then you might not hear a lot there, either.

Why not on the pro 164? what will the digital do for hiom that the 164 can't? Is it because everyone will be digital soon?

thanks for the help so far everyone...

No, not everyone will go digital (in the near future). It depends on what you or your friend want to monitor.

In your first post that started this thread, you mentioned two communities that have already gone digital. So I think that you've already answered your question.

Going forward, any government entity (especially Public Safety & Service) looking to use Federal & State dollars to fund their radio systems will find it increasingly difficult to get funding if they aren't willing to go digital and join a regional or state system.

Take a look at what's already transpired in Cuyahoga County. Today there are 4 digital radio systems (MARCS, MARCS-IP, GCRCN and Parma P25). Many of the communities still on analog are exploring their options to join existing digital systems.

So, if what you want to monitor is still on analog and there's no indication they are looking to go to digital. Save the money and get an analog scanner. There's still a lot to hear on analog.

Why not on the pro 164? what will thedigital do for hiom that the 164 can't? Is it because everyone will be digital soon?

thanks for the help so far everyone...

It will allow him to listen to Parma and Brooklyn on the City of Parma P-25 Phase I system.It will allow him to listen to Cleveland, Berea, Brookpark, Middleburg HTS, N. Royalton, Parma HTS, and Strongsville on the GCRCN network (Phase I). Not much left analog in Cuyahoga county anymore. Was visiting last month in Cleveland. Used two radios, PSR-800 and BCD396XT.He can still hear Medina county on the 164, aircraft (VHF/UHF), and railroads. Even Lorain county has gone P-25 conventional.Advertising the 164 as 'digital' is very misleading. It will not decode P-25 digital at all. HTH,Larry

All of the western suburbs of Cuyahoga county are now on MARCS-IP and all the southwest suburbs including the City of Cleveland are on the GCRCN. All have left analog in the past two months. You defiantly need to get a digital scanner if you want to here anything on the west side.